Need a Hand with the Dative?

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What is Dative?

The dative is the third German case. There are four cases in the German language.

A "case" is the function a noun has within a sentence. If words were actors, we could say the "case" is the role each word plays. The dative shows us who we are listening to, who we give something to, or who we are dealing with.

The German dative question is: "To whom, from whom, with whom, etc...?"
The dative usually shows that something is given TO SOMEBODY or received FROM SOMEBODY. It is also used for locations, to say where things are.

Dative - Overview

In the following table you can see what different words look like in the dative case. After that, there will be a more thorough explanation of how the dative is formed.

definite article

indefinite article

der Hund - masculine

dem roten Fuchs

einem roten Fuchs

die Kanne - feminine

der hübschen Kanne

einer hübschen Kanne

das Schwein - neutral

dem kleinen Schwein

einem kleinen Schwein

die Kannen - plural

den hübschen Kannen

hübschen Kannen

How to Form the Dative

To know what form a noun takes, we need to know whether it is masculine, feminine, or neutral, plural, or singular. These are the criteria according to which the ending of the noun, as well as articles and adjectives that belong to this noun, change. (see next paragraph)

To find out whether a noun is masculine, feminine, or neutral, we have to look at the definite article in the nominative singular (the "normal case"). "Normally" we would say "die Schwester" (the sister), so "Schwester" is feminine.